POSSESSING THE GATESPart 2

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice:but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn”(Proverbs 29:2)

5. DEFEND JUSTICE IN THE GATES

Proverbs 17:15 says, “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.” We are tired of this state of affairs and God says it is an abomination. We see it happening all around us, and even in our courts. Because of lies and warped judgment, innocent parents are in jail. The humanist media loves to trap and ridicule the righteous. Justice is distorted (Isaiah 59:14-15 and Amos 5:10).

There will come a day when all this will change. The Bible tells us about “the defender of justicein the gate.” How we need men today who will defend justice in the gates. We need to train up young men in our homes who know how to defend and battle in the gates for truth and justice. Isaiah 29:21 MLB speaks of the day when “the tyrant shall have vanished; the scoffer shall have ceased; and all those intent on doing evil shall be cut off, who for a word declare a person guilty, and entrap the defender of justice in the gate, and with empty arguments turn aside the person who is in the right.”

God has also promised that He will give a “spirit of justice to him who executes justice, and of valor to those who turn back the battle to the gate” (Isaiah 28:6 MLB).

6. ESTABLISH TRUTH AND PEACE IN THE GATES

Zechariah 8:16 says, “Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the justice of truth and peace in your gates.” Justice demands truth. Goodbye to lies. “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 12:22).

Truth and justice are the foundation for ordering our home. There will be no peace unless we first have truth and justice. We will not find men to execute justice and truth in the gates if it has not become ingrained in their lives from early childhood. Because Daniel was trained in a God-fearing home, he was ready and prepared to stand in the gates and influence a heathen nation (Daniel 2:49).

What is the result of truth and righteousness in the gates? Peace. This is what we long for, isn’t it? Sadly, we have war in the gates when we turn from God’s ways. Judges 5:8 says, “They chose new gods; then was war in the gates.”

7. CHALLENGE EVIL IN THE GATES

After being with God for 40 days and nights and receiving the divine tablets of stone which were written with the hand of God, Moses came down from Mt. Sinai to find the children of Israel had already turned from God and were worshipping a golden calf and defiling themselves with pagan revelry. Did Moses show a spirit of tolerance? No way. He was so furious he threw the tablets to the ground; he ground the golden calf into powder, mixed it with water, and made the people drink it! “Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come unto me” (Exodus 32:26).

It is time to challenge the evil that is going on in the gates of our cities and our land! Not only our land. The Bible also talks about the gates of the Lord’s house. Where are the men who will be unafraid to challenge the compromise and deception in the church? God told Jeremiah to “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings” (Jeremiah 7:1-3). Also read Jeremiah 17:19-21.

May God raise up men like Moses, Jeremiah and Elijah who will not be afraid to challenge the evil in the gates. May God raise up true watchmen who will guard the adversary from coming into the gates of the church. Lamentations 4:12 says, “The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.” What about the gates of the church?

8. GUARD THE GATES

Nehemiah 11:19 talks about 172 men who guarded the gates of Jerusalem. God has appointed 12 angels to guard each gate of the New city of Jerusalem (Revelation 21:12). If the gates of God’s city are to be guarded, what about the gates of our home, our city and our nation?

We need watchmen in the gates of our land, but it starts in the home. We must guard the gates of our home from all break-ins of the adversary—sin, deception, worldliness and mediocrity. It starts with parents who command their household in the ways of justice, and who do not allow disobedience, rebellion, lies, and deceit to go undisciplined. It will take parents who abhor evil, love righteousness, and who teach their children to do the same.

If every God-fearing family carefully guarded the gates of their home, it would filter up to the gates of our nation. It all starts with the family, which is God’s original plan. God established the family before the church and before government. Every individual family must take their responsibility to understand and execute justice in their home gates. I look toward the day when, “The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous” (Proverbs 14:19).

Isaiah 3:26 says, “Her gates shall lament and mourn” and Jeremiah 14:2 says, “Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish.” Will we have mourning in our gates or rejoicing?

“Great God and Father, I cry out to you for “defenders of justice” to be raised up in our midst. Help me, as a mother to begin training “defenders of justice” in my home. Teach me how to execute justice in my home. Amen.”